1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remote image-pickup system of capturing an image of a subject at a remote location by using a camera device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, a remote image-pickup system including a camera device for capturing an image of a subject at a remote location and a device for displaying/recording the image captured by the camera device has been used. For example, Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 7-212748 describes a surveillance camera system in which surveillance cameras are provided in a plurality of sites in a construction and an observer observes images captured by these surveillance cameras at one place.
In recent years, remote image-pickup systems have been widely adopted for various applications of monitoring a wedding hall, a conference room a chapel, etc., and for network cameras, in addition to the application as security cameras. With the increasing demand for such remote image-pickup systems, the format of picture signals required by users has diversified. Specifically, a camera device capable of outputting picture signals of various formats according to the application to be used, such as digital picture signals including a serial digital interface (SDI) signal; a digital video (DV) signal; and an Internet protocol (IP)-compatible signal, and a signal which can be transmitted through an optical-fiber cable, as well as the conventional analog picture signals, has been required.
In the known remote image-pickup system, however, the format of picture signals which can be output from the camera device is limited, and thus sufficient expandability of picture signals to be output cannot be realized. Further, in order to allow the camera device to output picture signals of a plurality of types of formats, a plurality of types of picture-signal converting circuits must be provided in the camera device. Accordingly, the size and price of the camera device increase disadvantageously.